The Best Is Yet To Come
by Fallen Shadow69
Summary: Failing English, Ruby is given one last chance to pass. that chance is in the form of a senior named Blake Belladonna, someone Ruby becomes friends with in the process. Challenge fic
1. Chapter 1

**Welp, I think I'm going to post both of these chapters at once... going to be interesting. Sorry I can't remember who challenged me to this specifically... if you did, please message me or pop it in the reviews so I can give proper credit.**

Chapter 1:

"Ruby Rose! Wake up!" A shrill platinum blonde woman yelled causing the brunette girl in question to bolt up right. A trail of drool running down the side of her face. She was shocked she had even fallen asleep in... she wasn't sure what class. But what she did know was the single most terrifying teacher in the entire school system if not the world should not be in the room.

"Sorry Mrs Goodwitch..." The brunette known as Ruby said as she brought her hand up to wipe away at the corner of her mouth. Ruby spoke looking around to see her class laughing and talking amongst themselves, as the platinum blonde department head was tapping her foot as if she was looking for an excuse.

Almost as if Ruby had one to begin with. Not that she did, and she doubted that even if she had one besides how boring English was, the irate teacher would even buy the excuse. The blonde teacher turned towards the man running his moustache through his fingers on one hand. "Peter, mind if I take Ruby for the rest of this class?"

' _Please say no... Please say no... Please say no._ ' Ruby chanted that simple mantra over and over. She had heard countless stories of the way she would shamelessly suspend students for the most minor of offences. She still remembered the one time she had an entire class suspended for missing parts of the approved uniform, including one girl who was just forgot to put her tie back on after lunch.

"That's fine Glynda." He spoke as the moustache just trailed on his fingers. His voice trailing off with a little bit of a laugh. One that Ruby knew would be probably the final sound she would ever hear.

She knew once her dad found out she would be grounded for the rest of her life. Yang would laugh and then go off to work enjoying the life she would then squander one that Ruby could never have herself. "Grab your things Miss Rose." The platinum blonde spoke causing Ruby to let out a silent groan of disapproval.

Reaching under the table, Ruby slowly grabbed her bag and pulled it onto her lap. Figuring that she could prolong this proverbial execution. Slowly and carefully she closed her poetry book she had no idea if that was even the book she needed... judging by the much thinner books everyone else had, she doubted it.

Once Ruby placed the book into her bag she sighed closing the flap to her messenger bag, she stood up slowly as she possibly could before the blonde furious teacher would make her punishment something far worse... and then by extension her dad's punishment would be worse. She didn't want to imagine what would happen to her precious baked treats as it was... just the thought that something worse could happen.

"Ruby, mind closing the door on your way out?" The large moustached man asked as Ruby just nodded. The storm raging in her mind was a far cry from what she let the world see. She took a deep breath as she closed the door. ' _I suppose a witness would make things too easy for them... this is going to be bad... like really really bad... I just hope I can get some time on my laptop..._ ' Ruby thought as the blonde gesture for her to follow.

The silence was only interrupted by the sound of the teachers heels connecting with the ground, like a metronome causing her already nearly fatal heart beat to go into overdrive. The way they passed by the open doors of classrooms, she could feel the eyes boring into her. It was nearly suffocating to her.

Shocked when the woman Ruby had quickly came to know as her executioner, stopped in front of the teacher's lounge. Quickly opening the door she gestured Ruby in. ' _Crapbaskets! Dad has already been called... he is going to be so mad... I might have to also walk Zwei every time and never see the beautiful, blinding blue glow of my computer turning on again._ '

Ruby walked in and took a large gulp as the blonde took a seat at the table and gestured Ruby to sit next to the raven haired woman Ruby couldn't believe she hadn't even noticed sitting in the room. Ruby gulped once more as she trudged over to where she knew would be the last place anyone would see her alive.

Taking a seat she looked at the raven haired woman with piercing amber eyes, making her shrink. The only solace Ruby had was judging by her uniform, she was a senior. And somehow that only minorly took care of the anguish she was feeling, and instead added a new type onto the dog pile that was ensuing in her mind.

"Ruby meet Blake, Blake meet Ruby." Glynda spoke, causing the duo's eyes to meet. The woman Ruby now knew as Blake extended her hand out, waiting for Ruby's clearly frazzled brain to kick in. Once it did Ruby took the hand and shook it.

Blake was slightly peeved she got pulled out of one of her favourite classes, partially because it allowed her to read. But now that her favourite teacher brought in this junior school student who looked something that Blake just knew was akin to a scared kitten in front of a wild dog.

"Mrs Goodwitch... do you mind if I ask what is the point in gathering us?" Blake asked figuring this shivering girl wouldn't be able to vocalise anything but the sound of words dying in her throat.

"I need you to help Miss Rose in English." The blonde spoke as Ruby let out a small sigh, one she hoped wasn't obvious. She wasn't in any major trouble. But it just meant she may still need to be the one to walk Zwei a couple more times when it was meant to be Yang's turn, or her dad's turn.

Turning towards Ruby she spoke again, "This is your last possible chance Miss Rose. If you don't get your English test results up, you will be held back." She spoke with a definitive tone that may have irked Ruby less if any other thing was the subject for debate. "This isn't fair... I'm still a B minus average student..." Ruby bit back slightly harder than she meant, but the simple fact that she would need to be held back because she got a couple 'no grade' tests back.

"It is a mandatory subject Miss Rose. Frankly speaking if I wasn't friends with your uncle, I wouldn't have gotten Miss Belladonna here to help you. You need to at least pass the remaining seven English exams of the year. If you do not, no amount of friendship I have with your family will save you from that fate. Am I clear?" With that the platinum blonde spoke standing up righting her outfit and letting a smile grace her lips.

"You two may use the library for the remainder of the final class. Or you may return to your classes. Those are your options, decide now." The way the blonde spoke caused Ruby to just frown. She had no desire to repeat the year... but she didn't even know if this almost terrifying older woman would be willing to spend the twenty minutes remaining trying to explain something that five separate English teachers in the school seemed to fail at.

The raven haired woman looked towards Ruby and smiled. "Come on then." The way the raven haired woman spoke caused Ruby to sulk again. Clearly the woman's mind was made up to help Ruby. Not that was what Ruby had a problem with... she would have just rather gone back to the room to sleep. She knew Mr. Port had practically given up on getting her to learn whatever it was that they were reading.

Ruby just stood up with the other student who grabbed her own bag and gestured towards the door for the younger brunette to follow her. Knowing that this was going to be annoying, she just wanted to get it over with at this point. She just hoped beyond hope that this terrifying woman would be able to figure a way to make this gibberish make sense to her.

As they came to a stop towards the room Ruby often forgot was a thing when Blake spoke up, "Hey... Ruby... have we met before? You just seem so familiar to me." Glancing towards the terrifying woman and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm the only junior on the school track team... and we did come first last year... and I'm the team captain of the school's math team... I know I'm a nerd." Ruby got out as she yawn into her elbow.

Smirking a little at the smaller girl's comment, but that still didn't make sense to her. ' _Ah screw it... I'll be able to figure it out later._ ' Blake thought as she quickly lead them towards one of the tables and dropped her bag on top of it sitting down in one of the open chairs gesturing for Ruby to take one as well.

"Okay... before I start to help... I've got to know... how do you get a no grade on a test... did you sign your name right?" The raven haired woman asked as Ruby glared at her. "It is my third language for one... two... English is stupid and makes no sense. I can think of more uses for Pythagoras than I can for the works of Shakespeare."

Ruby bit as she took her own seat. Placing her bag carefully on the ground next to her. Not wanting to deal with any of this right now. She was already feeling a distinct level of dread from what was to come. But she knew that once she got home she could relax fully, maybe even get some time to relax on her computer before she had to go to bed.

"Well... clearly you know enough to speak, and read seeing as it is a mandatory subject, so be glad the answer to your problem is easy." Blake cut herself off as she stood up and quickly walked down one of the aisles and out of Ruby's sight. Ruby smiled as the terrifying senior went off causing her to rest her head on her arms on the table.

' _At least I'll get some more sleep... only use these books have really... being pillows._ ' Ruby thought as she began to even out her breathing and just forcing herself to enjoy the time she was having away from one of the most annoying teachers she had ever had to be with. With his constant stories about how he smelled like cabbages when he was younger.

As she could feel her tired thoughts take over she was rudely interrupted by the sound of something hitting the table next to her head causing her to nearly jump out of her seat. She looked up to see a smirk on the raven haired woman's face. Like she enjoyed the terror she just brought to Ruby. The way her eyes bored into Ruby's vary being reminded Ruby of a cat just staring down a mouse. Silver locked onto amber, one not wanting to be walked over... the other not wanting to have her time wasted.

Losing the nerve Ruby looked at the object that ripped her from her thoughts and saw a hard bound book resting on the desk. The way the cloth bound book stared at her was startling to her. She moved the book over trying to see if there was anything that could identify what the book was, but she wasn't sure if the dust jacket was lost over time, or if the woman in front of her removed it to prove some point to her. Deciding that the only way to figure out what nearly gave her a heart attack was to actually open it she stopped as the jet black letters stared at her against the bone white paper.

"You're kidding... how the hell are fairy tales meant to help me? Can't you just give me a bunch of notes on poetry or plays or literally anything to do with the subject?" Ruby asked as the woman took her seat again, smirk from winning the staring contest having left her face as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book. "You are going to read that in its entirety. By tomorrow. If I got you notes, you wouldn't learn anything and it would make it even harder to learn the subject. Just trust me, and the advice I've been given in the past."

Letting out a loud exaggerated groan, Ruby looked back at the massive book. "There are like a billion pages... how the hell am I meant to get this read by tomorrow?" Ruby asked as she turned to the first page with a story. "One, hyperbole isn't going to help you. Two if you remove the pictures then it is closer to two hundred pages which translates to only a few stories. So if I were you, I'd get started on reading it instead of complaining." Blake responded not taking her eyes off her book, figuring that this was going to take a while.

"Still doesn't explain how this is meant to help me... I mean, I've been in nearly every English teacher's class... and the subject is tanking my average grade." Ruby asked as she began to read a story about two children getting abandoned in the woods. "The only way to get better at it, is reading. Come tomorrow, I'll give you something like 'Paradise Lost.' or maybe even something more modern, like 'The Help'." Blake spoke turning the page just enjoying the book, slightly annoyed that she had to defend her teaching methods to this girl.

"Fine... I'll read the stupid book... but I can assure you if this is all I'm going to be doing I'm going to fail the next test... that much is obvious." Ruby pouted as she turned her head to see a picture causing her to smile and appreciate the small portion she just read slightly more than she would have otherwise.

Smiling Blake lowered her book and looked at Ruby, she knew her smile was obvious, but she enjoyed the idea that she could prove her method in a manner her blonde friend had demanded before she dropped out of school. "How confident are you in that? Would you be willing to bet? I mean... you are what a Second Year student? How sure are you that you'll fail?"

"I'm ninety nine percent sure. Willing to bet a piece of programme I've been working on for the last three years that has the potential to net millions to the right software company." Ruby stated as she looked up from the book to stare into Blake's eyes. She could see a smile developing and a gleam in her eyes. "How about something less of monetary value... because that is wildly illegal. I suggest you make me brownies if you pass... and I'll bake you something you want for the year you have to repeat."

"Triple chocolate chip cookies. And add in some strawberry milk once a week... and you got yourself a bet." Ruby said holding her hand out, glad because this was a win win for her. Grasping the hand Blake smiled and stared at Ruby. "Rules are simple. You can't sabotage yourself, and you must do as I say."

Ruby smiled brighter as she took her hand back and glanced at the book. Quickly realising one fatal flaw with what she just agreed to. That meant she had to read something that was already boring her to tears. "Can you at least pick a non-boring book? I mean... this stuff is ancient."

"Finish it by the end of tomorrow and I'll give you a reward for it. I'm sure you can think of something you would want to do. After our studying session of course. If you don't it just means you lose out on having that fun." Blake said looking back down at her book and turning the page again. "Like... you paying for an hour at the arcade down by the docks?"

"There is an arcade down by the docks?" Blake asked as she glanced away from the book to look at the girl sitting in front of her. "It is kind of out of the way... and at midnight it turns into a rave... which is only slightly strange all things considered." Ruby spoke as she looked back down at her book.

Smirking as she looked back at her book, "If that is where you want to go then you'll need to lead me there. But again, you need to finish that book by the time of end of school tomorrow. So instead of talking, you should get back to reading otherwise you'll have to do a lot more than needed at home." Blake spoke trying to appeal to the brunette's sense of logic. Secretly hoping that she would actually need to pay for an hour if it meant that this girl would actually listen and by extension work for a grade let alone a passing one.

"Going to regret that call Blake... arcade games are one of the things you don't come between me with... I'm going to get this book done in no time at all." Ruby taunted, hoping for a reaction from the older girl but received none. "Nothing?" Ruby continued looking up to see the woman fully engrossed with the book.

' _She is just trying to psych you out Ruby... don't let her... this is going to be easier than that time you had to teach Yang calculus..._ '

 **Author's Note:**

 **Part 1 is done... going to go to sleep, and then start and hopefully finish part 2 before Thursday because I plan to get sloppy drunk Thursday the 17th to celebrate my 20th birthday.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay... rested up... got Weird Al playing... can't believe it has taken me practically the day after I checked complete on the Drug Au to get to this point... but I did take a lot of time out to watch the extra life livestream... Game Attack are fucking crazy, and oh my god the amount total they raised. I also took time to write a Reese/Pyrrha story that is on tumblr. And I'll stop procrastinating now.**

Chapter 2:

Smiling as she ran into Blake for the first time the entire day. She couldn't believe how hard it was, she even lost a couple hours of working on her small coding projects, but it was going to be worth. She won.

Slamming the thick book on the table as she stared at Blake. "I won. Told you. Don't come between me and arcade games." Ruby spoke as Blake smiled placing a slightly smaller book on top of the larger book. "Okay I guess that means I'll pay for arcade games for an hour. However, today we are going to read Seamus Heaney poems." Blake said as Ruby deflated a little.

Sulking as she took a seat and slowly dragged the much thinner book down and opened it. "Oh, just so you know, there are three other books you'll need to read as well. All poetry... just that is the only Seamus Heaney one." Blake stated as Ruby began to pout opening to the first page with just a wall of text staring at her. She had no idea how long these poems were... but she was already saddened by it.

Blake halted herself a little when she saw Ruby pout as she was reading one of Blake's favourite poets. Almost like she wasn't enjoying it. "If you get that book and another one done by the time we agreed to yesterday that these studying groups will end, I'll bring in chocolate and strawberry cookies tomorrow. Home baked." Blake spoke as Ruby looked up smiling a little at the idea of getting a treat.

The only problem she found was that it didn't help her situation today. Which was a big problem to her. But those did sound really good. They did combine Ruby's two favourite things. How could she pass up that opportunity?

"Challenge accepted... but you made a worse mistake... those are like my two favourite things..."

"Did I? I mean... you are reading. And I now know of an easier way to get you to do that." Blake quipped back as she stood up with the large book of fairy tales and began to walk down an aisle, one Ruby figured was where the book belonged.

Ruby had to admit that it had a lot of interesting stories, which made the binge reading she did a lot easier to do. She had no idea if that was what caused the stories to become iconic to the point where everyone knew at least one of them. It even had Ruby's favourite one. But after a quick glance over the lines of this poem it seemed really depressing. From what she got, the poem was about some four year old dying because they got hit by a car.

Blake quickly found her seat again and took it pulling out her own book and turned to a new page. Enjoying that Ruby seemed to have picked up reading, even if it was just to get some reward. But it was going to be a small price to pay.

"How are you reading a new book? You only were only half way through the other one yesterday." Ruby asked looking up from the book. She only got half way through a poem about some man going to do something she just knew was going to be terrible to kittens. She needed some distraction. She didn't want to imagine what would befall them. "I finished the book this morning. It was an interesting story. But that isn't up for debate. You should get reading. I mean, if you don't get the two books of poems done, I'll still bring in the cookies the only difference is, I'll eat them and you won't get any." Blake spoke only glancing away from her book to see Ruby sulking a little.

"What is the matter?"

"This guy is so depressing... who writes a poem about a dead brother... or drowning kittens... is the next one about him watching orphans setting themselves on fire?" Ruby asked as Blake smirked a little. "Actually those are the only depressing ones he wrote really. But also keep in mind when he wrote the poems, he saw death frequently and the country was really poor because of constant bombings." Blake spoke as Ruby glanced back down at the poem book.

' _Okay... that just means I got to get through these two poems first... then they get happier by comparison going to be easy._ ' Ruby thought hoping that she was in fact right about that, and Blake wouldn't lie to her about it. She had no reason to doubt Blake, but that nagging sensation being from years of being related to Yang had made her a little sceptical about everyone.

Blake smiled as Ruby just seemed to figuratively roll her sleeves up and began to read those two poems she clearly disliked a lot. Not that the older of the two could fault her. It took Blake a lot to will herself to read them. Reaching down next to her she pulled up what was the largest of the remaining three poem books and placed it on the table next to the book Ruby was currently reading.

"That book is freaking huge!" Ruby exclaimed as Blake just smiled a little. "You'll like Shel Silverstein. His poems get even the coldest person to laugh. And the poems themselves aren't actually that long. He just drew a lot of cartoons to go with each poem. So get those two done by four thirty, and we can go and enjoy the arcade and you'll get your cookies tomorrow, because your alternative is Shakespeare's sonnets, or Elizabeth Bishop... trust me you want to read that 'freaking huge' book."

Sulking a little as she resigned herself to her fate of reading. Just glad that at least Blake was willing to look out for her that much at least. It meant that she could probably do this easier and faster. That is all she needed really.

* * *

Ruby saw the machine she was wanting to play all day and she was going to enjoy it. Grabbing Blake's hand she dragged Blake over towards the machine letting go so she could grab one of the plastic gun, smiling as Blake smirked a little.

"House of Dread nine?" Blake asked as Ruby nodded her head frantically. She loved this game to an extreme degree. "It is a zombie rail game... and is amazing. Me and my sister have the record on the machine, and I'm confident she holds me back. And only one way to prove it. You are more than welcome to join." Ruby said as she just stared at the small demo of game play began as Blake pulled out a couple of coins and placed them inside causing Ruby's hand to fly down and hit the start button.

Blake smiled as Ruby developed a small zone like mood when she began to play the game, the way her eyes just darted across the screen, almost like every second she was planning her course of action.

"So, out of curiosity why play this game now? I mean, we've been here what nine times now?" Blake asked as Ruby began to swing the gun around and pull the plastic trigger. As Blake looked back towards the screen to see heads explode. "Because there was always a group here... and I dislike playing this with an audience... which always happens by the time I get to the third level. And that is what fail. But there is like five people here so I should be able to do this just fine." Ruby got out as she pulled the plastic trigger a few times quickly lowering it to the bottom portion and pulled it again.

"So, how did that test a couple of days go? I assume it went well. I mean, Port isn't that harsh marking tests." Blake asked as Ruby smiled a little. "I got forty seven percent. So a pass... but I feel I can do better. But only five in class tests then the summer one... So I have time to get up more." Ruby smiled as she took her eyes off the screen to look at Blake who was observing both Ruby and the screen. "Well, don't forget, I can only help you till may. After that I'm done." Blake said as Ruby frowned at that simple remark.

It was a factor that she remembered constantly, but that didn't make it any easier. Ruby enjoyed these small things Blake would reward her with for doing the reading she assigned each night. She had no idea how she was meant to be able to keep the whole 'plan' Blake had. But that just seemed far too hard. She had even contemplated tanking Blake's grades, but still couldn't do that. It just felt wrong.

"You are going to do just fine Ruby. If it makes it any easier on you, every time I can, we can meet up and do something like this again." Blake said hoping that she could get Ruby to keep this up. She had to admit after the three weeks of helping Ruby, it was amusing to see her still pouting and eventually get to reading whatever it was for that day, just so she could do whatever it was that Blake planned as a reward.

Shaking her head to focus back on the game Ruby just began to debate if it was going to be worth it. "That sounds better... but I don't know if it is still going to be as easy. I mean... I have no idea how I'm meant to pick what to read..."

"We can sort something out Ruby. Even if it is me texting you at the start of the week a list you need to read by weekend." Blake spoke as Ruby smiled a bit more at the way Blake was that confident in her trust that Ruby would do something like reading on an honour system about this whole thing. After all Ruby had contemplated just lying... the only thing that ever stop her was the fact Blake would actually always go through with whatever the reward was. If it was the arcade, they would go. If it was some treat like cookies and milk they would get some.

Ruby figured that was the real reason she did as well as she did on the last test. Just the desire to get something special and Blake had even given her a carton of strawberry milk the day Ruby finished the test.

But the idea that Blake would be gone now, made the last two years seem a lot more daunting. It would be something she would dread just thinking about walking into the class. To go back to flunking.

"Ruby, again, if you just keep reading, you'll work your way up to an A easily. Probably the best advice I ever got from Goodwitch back when I was always getting a ninety five percent. I asked her... and she told me the only real way is to read. And I realised that I actually really enjoy reading. Probably the easiest hobby I have and do on a regular basis. But you went from two percent up to forty seven in three weeks. You should be able to get it to a ninety by the end of the year."

"Fine... but if I do... I want to go to your graduation because that will be the last time I can see you before the final test I'll have." Ruby said pulling the trigger for the final time on the first boss. "Fine. You need to score at least ninety by the final in class test. I'll even ask Port myself to make sure." Blake spoke as Ruby placed the plastic weapon back not really wanting to continue playing it right now. She still had to finish Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde if she wanted the brownies Blake was offering for tomorrow. "Well, I'm done for today. Thanks Blake."

* * *

Ruby smiled as she ran up to Blake, and placed the graded test down in front of her. "Told you I could do it... not going to bring my average grade across the board up by much... but it does mean, I'm capable of getting a ninety percent... and you owe me one invite to your graduation." Ruby exclaimed, ignoring the fact they were in a library. She was happy.

And she could see a smile on Blake's face. It was large one showing just how happy Blake was. "You see, because I had you read Mid Term Break a lot, you could answer the questions without even looking at the poem." Blake spoke reaching into her bag to pull out a clear box.

One that Ruby knew really well, and it made the test result even better when Blake pulled out a small pink carton. Something Ruby enjoyed to go with the delicious baked cookies Blake had always made for her.

Opening the container Ruby could see there was a small deviation from the normal chocolate chip ones that Blake would make her. Instead they were triple chocolate chip. "I decided to do something special seeing as this is the last study session." Blake said handing the papers back to Ruby. Noticing a distinct frown on her face as she bit into the cookie.

"It is? I thought we would have more time..." Ruby pouted, suddenly the delicious treat no longer tasted as good. It was bitter, and disgusting in a way. "Relax Ruby. I can still stop by every now and then when I'm around." Blake said trying to cheer the brunette up. Once she saw Ruby smile a little she joined her as well. "That would be fun... so what am I meant to read today? Because creative writing is a large portion of my final test."

"Your set for that. But I'll let you choose. I suggest something that is just a collection of short stories." Blake spoke as Ruby stood up, knowing the exact book she was going to get. The same one that started her friendship with Blake really. Once she found the cloth bound book she pulled it off the shelf and walked back to the table to see Blake smiling anew. "Fairy tales? Nice choice."

"Thanks for the help Blake." Ruby got out as Blake looked at her, "The best is yet to come Ruby… once you are done with this school, I have no doubt you can go far."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Boom got it done. It is shorter than originally planned... that is partially due to I fucking hate writing fluff... but glad I got to write it. Few points of order, the poems at the start that Ruby is** **referring** **to are 'Mid Term Break' and 'Early Purges' respectively. I'm using the Irish Secondary school system because I experienced that, and you can be held back for failing one of the three mandatory subjects the school is required by law to teach. As for the reading thing... that is actual advice my 5th year and 6th year English teacher gave to anyone if they wanted to do better at the subject, and it is the advice I give whenever someone asks for help. Just read. I hope you guys enjoyed this... I'm going to go get my pre pre birthday drink on... and then come Saturday, hopefully get the story that won the poll started... till next time.**


End file.
